Fearless Owen Farrell

OWEN FARRELL has met most of the demands so far made on him by Test rugby. Tomorrow he takes on the toughest test of all when he faces New Zealand’s Dan Carter at Twickenham. But that will not stop him aspiring to match one of the all-time greats.

This can happen only if the England pack withstand the All Blacks as stoutly as they did the Springboks. Even then, Carter and company being comfortably the world’s best, mere resistance would not suffice for either Farrell or England.

“Fly-halves are supposed to control the game,” said Farrell.

“That’s what I’ve been preparing to do and hopefully what I’m going to do. Teams look to the fly-half to put them into the right places. It’s a step up but it’s still just another game of rugby. Dan Carter is completely in control of what he is doing and what is going on around him.

“He almost looks as if he could play this sport in his sleep.

“But a lot of work goes into that sort of thing. You can also see how nothing affects

him during the game. That’s a wonderful thing for a player to have.”

He almost looks as if he could play this sport in his sleep

Owen Farrell

It is a fair aspiration for Farrell, 21, simply to be as Carter was at the same age, let alone how the great man is now that he is 30 and has 93 caps to Farrell’s 11. Both have been nominated as international player of the year, though in Carter’s case, as with his captain Richie McCaw, being on a short-list of four is an almost annual inevitability.

In Farrell’s and that of the fourth nominee Frederic Michalak, of France, there is a touch of the bizarre. The winner will be announced next week.

Farrell has struggled to get the Saracens back-line going this season and has regained his place only because of Toby Flood’s toe injury. In terms of orchestrating attacking rugby, Farrell’s new deputy Freddie Burns has been far more successful at Gloucester.

But bringing Burns straight in without a look-and-learn diversion to the bench was too much for coach Stuart Lancaster to contemplate. “Freddie has been outstanding in the Premiership this season,” said Lancaster. “He brings a special quality in creativity but his kicking game and game-management have also improved during the season. We’ve had an opportunity to bring him in through injury. The squad will change in January and I’m sure he will warrant inclusion then. Owen had a slow start to this season with a shoulder injury. I don’t think his form has dropped as much as many suggested. He had a long and outstanding season last season, contributing massively to our performances in the Six Nations.”

As the Welsh found, the Six Nations is a notoriously unreliable guide to a game against New Zealand, or any of the southern big three for that matter. Farrell may not be the new Dan Carter but he has often been likened to an early Jonny Wilkinson.

“I feel like I understand the game better, like I’m making strides each week I go out. It has been a bit of a frustrating start to the season but I’ve still been looking at the game and learning,” said Farrell. “This is a game I love, not one that I’m scared of in any way. Even sat on the bench, you’re learning from what is in front of you. You get nervous but once you get out there you have to concentrate on the job ahead of you. If you’re not, you’re going to be caught out.”

After beating Fiji, England lost to Australia before losing to South Africa. With those defeats went their chance of a top-four World Cup seeding even before facing exalted, world-champion opponents who are unbeaten in 20 Tests over 15 months.

Three more equals the record 23 set by Wayne Shelford’s All Black team of 1987-99. “That they are a world-class team is shown by their record when they play,” said Farrell. “But at the same time, that’s the challenge in front of you and what you look forward to. There’s no point in being scared of it.”

Carter has returned at fly-half after recovering from the calf injury which removed him from the Wales match. Even if he were to drop out again at the last minute, Aaron Cruden would not make it that much easier for the English defence.

This explains England’s refusal to devote too much attention to Carter, though by his simple dazzling presence opposite Farrell he creates space for all the rest. As Lancaster says: “If you concentrate on one guy, even Carter, there are 14 others who can do something special as well.”